Survey of Pastors and Christian Leaders on Voting for the President of the United States

Dear [ X ],

I am a freelance writer and a columnist for The Presidential Prayer Team. (See "About Me" to the right.) I am writing in pursuit of your opinion about the 2016 presidential election. I would be grateful if you honored me with a response to my questions below, and I think many Americans would respect your input on this issue. Feel free to answer as concisely as you want. Thanks in advance, and God bless!

for Glory,

by Grace,

Nikolas Grosfield

1. The Bible does not directly address constitutional republics—or personal involvement therein. So what are 1-2 key scriptures and / or biblical principles that guide your decision to vote in the primary or general elections, and why?

2. Sometimes Christians feel that the major candidates in a primary or general election are poor choices. Thus they may end up voting for whomever they consider to be “the lesser of two evils,” or not voting at all. Yet ultimately they are accountable to God for their actions. How would you counsel a brother or sister in Christ in this predicament?

3. God works through ungodly leaders all through the Bible. Sometimes He changes their hearts, sometimes not, but His sovereignty is never threatened or. How would you encourage a follower of Christ when elections seem to go awry?

4. The New Testament tells Christians to “honor,” “pray for,” and “be subject to” their leaders, which includes paying taxes. Meanwhile, the Old Testament warns against trusting in princes or man. Given all the hoopla about the race for the White House, how would you caution a believer if the election does not go his way—or even if it does?

5. What are the top 1-2 issues for you in the 2016 presidential race, and why?

Thank You, 9-1-1 Dispatchers!

If you have ever worked at a 9-1-1 dispatch center, your 9-1-1 calls may have had a distinct ring. Most calls are routine or misdials or information requests. Yet any call could be a crisis, whether from citizens or from emergency personnel. Dispatchers daily deal with frustrating or dangerous circumstances—so they learn ways of coping on-the-job. But they are prepared for the worst, for they all have answered a call and heard only screaming on the other end of the line…

Rigorous training prepares dispatchers to engage emergencies effectively—lest emotions slow or undermine the response of authorities. When the 9-1-1 ring sounds, a dispatcher may answer and say, “9-1-1, what is the address of the emergency?” (Tip: location is the most critical information you can give, so call-takers can get some help en route, even before they know the problem.)

Given all this, you can imagine the combination of humor and irritation dispatchers feel when an “emergency” caller declares, “My neighbor’s dog is barking!” A pithy reply might be, “This is a 9-1-1 line, Sir/Ma’am; please call back on the regular police phone.”

Natural gas explosions, suicides, broken legs, car crashes, heart attacks, bar fights, drunk drivers, fires, domestic violence, rape…and also false alarms, parking violations, officer requests, rabbits on main street, welfare checks, and yes, barking dogs are all part of a dispatcher’s daily service.

God bless you, dispatchers!

~~~~~~~~

Part of this was originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team (www.presidentialprayerteam.com). Reprinted here with permission.

One Nation Under...

I don't "comment" much on the Internet -- nor do I read many "comments" (although I read a few this week).

I commented on an intriguing Presidential Prayer Team article (yay PPT!) this week regarding Arabic and Muslims in America. I consider it an important issue, so I felt like I should share here as well...

~~~~~

I appreciate your article, Gigi. I have lived in the Middle East for more than four years, and can speak a bit of Arabic. I agree that "one nation under Allah" sounds a bit off, especially since "Allah" is a personal name of God in Islam, whereas "God" in English can be personal for Christians or generic for Christians and non-Christians. But in fact, Christian Arabs and Christian Middle Easterners actually pray to "Allah" as well. It can be a generic word for "God" in Arabic, too. I imagine my many Muslim and Christian Middle Eastern friends can confirm and better explain this.

But my main concern is Islamophobia. Your prayer points maybe touched on this. One of American Christendom's greatest tragedies thus far in the 21st century is a lack of love for Muslims -- be they our neighbors or our enemies (Jesus calls us to pray for both) -- or a lack of passion for seeing Muslims come to Christ. Oh, that we would pray for them, reach out to them, and call upon King Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew, Yesuua in Arabic) to grant them the same grace, mercy, faith, hope, love, and eternal life and relationship with Him that He has given us!

A New Strategy

You probably know one of my top career goals is to be a writer.  You might know that I want to do that for God and with God and through God.

Well, as such I sure do not want to cheat along the way.  But maybe some borrowing (from myself) here and some repeating (of myself) there differs from cheating, especially if I give credit whenever necessary, right?

So here's my new strategy:

Whereas my top (overall) writing goal is to be useful to God;
Whereas my second (overall) writing goal is to grow closer to God;
Whereas my third (overall) writing goal is to be faithful to God;
Whereas my fourth (overall) writing goal is to maintain my priorities, especially to my family;
Whereas my fifth (overall) writing goal is to provide for my family...

Whereas my top (normal) writing goal is to be published by WORLD Magazine;
Whereas my second (normal) writing goal is to be published by The Presidential Prayer Team;
Whereas my third (normal) writing goal is to be published by Yahoo! Voices;
Whereas my fourth (normal) writing goal is to post on Blogger;
Whereas my fifth (normal) writing goal is to Tweet all my publications @montananik82...

Whereas my top (dream) writing goal is to be read by millions;
Whereas my second (dream) writing goal is to be syndicated by The NY Times and Wall Street Journal;
Whereas my third (dream) writing goal is to write quality best-selling books;
Whereas my fourth (dream) writing goal is to be paid to travel wherever I want for my material;
Whereas my fifth (dream) writing goal is change and / or save at least one life and / or soul...

Therefore, since Yahoo! Voices, Blogger, and Twitter each accept non-exclusive material, and since various publishers restore rights to writers after a period of time, I plan to submit as much of my non-Yahoo! Voices material to Yahoo! Voices as I can, and as much of my non-Blogger material to Blogger as I can, giving due credit as required.  Then I will tweet each and every new re-publication and re-posting as well.

My hope, of course, is to boost my online presence and readership.  It may all be a flop -- or at least cheap.   And I certainly do not want it to replace the habit of actual fresh writing.  I hope to create unique blog posts (like this one) that I do not plan to republish elsewhere, and I hope to craft exclusive articles that I cannot re-post here.

Ultimately, if I do pen works that God wants to use for His glory, and if I can execute this strategy to multiply His glory ever so slightly, then nothing else matters.  If my plan bears no fruit, then my losses will be minimal.